Saviours and Ghosts
by saye0036
Summary: Skyfall & Spectre AU / Bond is missing after Eve shot him of the train in Skyfall. M calls in help from the past to find Bond dead or alive.
1. Chapter 1

Co-writer: detectivecaz -For 009 who inspired me to write a Alec/Q/Bond story to the best of my abilities.

Skyfall & Spectre AU / Bond is missing after Eve shot him of the train in Skyfall. M calls in help from the past to find Bond dead or alive.

Note: The tags on this site classify Alec Trevelyan as 008, the Bond wikis say 006 so he is 006 for this story.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The truth of the matter was; he fell in love with him. Alec Trevelyan had fallen for a friend, a man with whom he constantly competed, and despite the myriad of plans he had for Janus he just couldn't do it. He couldn't leave MI6 because James would not leave MI6, whether it was loyalty to the crown or M, James Bond continued to strive for the cause. Missions had long ago lost their shine in Alec's eyes and he wanted nothing more than to flee to the riches and plans he had for Janus. He could not hold on to the hate required of him for his parent's death because of British political failings.

Those were old hurts and his brother in arms; James Bond knew them well. Orphans both of them, only the age at which they lost their parents was different. It was all in the past like so many things. That night Bond refused to talk about, the one he would sooner forget and the one in which Alec could not forget.

The two of them were together in Russia. Alec pulled James out of a whore house, just before they killed him. Bond was draped in women, drugged, compliant and about to be shot by the owner. James never stood a chance against them. He had always been too weak where women were concerned.

It was not the first time either of them had taken a man to bed, but it was the first time it was a friend, there were feelings involved. After their drunken, stoned confessions, a physical wrestling match began, to prove who was best. It turned out that the two of them each made out well that night.

When Alec awoke there was a note beside him apologising for it, and stating that it would never happen again. Alec crumpled the piece of paper and began planning for Janus, yet again. He would disappear for sure this time, in his fury over James' slight. He was about to go dark when M called him into her office.

Unbelievably, M knew or guessed what had happened between Bond and himself. Q had found his hack into the payroll and it collapsed from there. The choice was arrest, or go deep under as the head of Janus, but still protecting Britain's interests. He had little choice, damn the woman!"

The mission went like clockwork and Alec tried to kill James for it to look good. It was a little too good and he spent the next month recovering from the burns. M made sure he was fine and gave him the location of a few safe houses with supplies should he need them. He made use of the one in Rome for a time and got involved quicky in an underground black market. Learning the names of those running everything from drugs to people.

Unfortunately, Alec still dreamed of James and the betrayal he saw in his eyes that night. Alec smiled thinking it was justice for the slight against him that morning with the dear John letter. There was no denying he liked both men and women, but none had taken his heart the way dear James had. Agents 006 and 007 would have their time again.

* * *

Many years came and went and Alec started to heal from the slight of being shunned by Bond. M stayed in contact at least once a month, making Alec wonder if the woman would ever retire. M was a combination of every headmistress, librarian and military commander Alec had ever met. She had grit running through her veins like a seasoned veteran of the last world war, yet she was not the age for it. M rather defied age.

Alec had surveillance on much of MI6, and occasionally caught his old boss getting in and out of her car. Perhaps all that concentrated evil in one small body gave her a youthful glow that she still possessed after all these years.

M was a bit of an enigma and she made him do things, despite the freedom he enjoyed. There was something about the commanding tone of her voice. It made you stand up and take notice. "Yes Ma'am," was all he could ever bring himself to respond.

M had contacted him earlier this week, and all she said was, "Come in."

Something about her tone reached deep within him and made him nervous. It took three days, but he made it back to London and met her in a quiet pub. His eyes swept the room for guards but she had none. Alec had been waiting outside for a bit before making his way in and he did not even notice her car. The pub was empty, save him, M and the one bloke at the end of the bar finishing up and grabbing his coat.

Alec walked in and over to the bar first to order a pint. The only thing he missed about this country was the pubs. M's presence here in the corner of the room was disconcerting, considering that she was alone. It was doubtful that the woman had been without guard for an hour or two in the last dozen years. But here she sat there not looking directly at him, as if she was a normal person, alone and lonely having a drink at the end of her day.

After a few minutes and one downed pint he got another and walked over to the corner booth. M was sitting there sipping on her own pint. Dressed entirely in black, her hair shone silver white in the moonlight from the window. She must be slipping or not give a damn anymore to be sitting so close to a window. She should be with her back in the far corner so that she can watch the door, away from the easily shattered glass of a window.

"I'm sure you wondering why I called you in."

"Yes, and hello to you Ma'am. May I say how lovely you look this evening." Alec purred flirtatiously.

"Oh, please. You tried that charm of yours the first day we met. as did all the 00's. If I had fallen for your flirtation then we would not be sitting _**here**_ having this conversation."

Alec's brows arched. "Do tell M? Would this meeting be in a much more comfortable place?"

M rolled her eyes. The edge never dulled on this woman, and she was still as handsome as she was years ago.

"You're all I've got from the old guard now. Ronson and Bond are dead. Well, Ronson is dead and Bond was shot off a train, over a hundred foot drop into a raging river in Turkey. Bond has not surfaced nor has his body been found."

"How long?" He was shocked to his core, the unsettled feeling that he felt when she called him in returned, causing uneasiness in his stomach.

M looked down into her drink and sighed. It was the closest Alec had ever seen the woman to tears. "It's been five weeks and they have made me stop the search."

"And now you want me to go find his body." Alec said stunned in sadness. Damn him for dying on them.

M's red rimmed eyes bore into his. "Yes." Her voice was faint and the brutal reality began to sink into Alec's mind.

Alec didn't know what made him do it, but he moved his hands to cover hers on the table. There were few on the planet that James Bond could count on as friends and despite everything, M was the matriarch of their rather dysfunctional family. At times she was a complete bitch, but she obviously cared far deeper than Alec had given her credit for before.

M looked momentarily shocked at the familiarity of his action, but in the end she accepted the comfort. Alec had always been a loose cannon in the past, which made him a perfect mole. But there something about his relationship with Bond that had always tempered him, and endeared him to her.

"I don't know if I can divert resources to assist…"

"No. I will manage fine on my own. I always have. Is there anything more?"

"More than losing a hard drive with the names of all NATO's embedded agents and two of my 00's? No. And before you ask you are not on that list. You are my dirty little secret." M said with a wane smile. She knew that if anyone could find Bond it would be Alec.

"Not the only one I'm sure." Alec said with a wink and M withdrew her hands suddenly from his. Alec missed the warmth of physical contact immediately. He had a sudden longing for something more. The moment M called him, he knew she would pull him to places he didn't want to go, emotionally. Grief made ones mind do strange things, and the two of them were experiencing that now. Being overcome with emotion, drew people together in the oddest of ways. For here the two of them were, in a pub having a drink and a chat in honour of someone important to both of them, James Bond.

"How is the rest of the old gang M?" Alec said, trying to divert the somber subject matter to something neutral and less angst filled.

"Tanner is still here. Yes; I know...he's a glutton for punishment." M said with a smirk. She and Alec took another sip and then M continued. "The agent that shot James is on desk duty until the investigation is over, and they will be replacing me soon."

"Because of all this?"

"Yes, of course for all of this! Did you think they would just ignore it and hope it went away? Bond trashed a bloody national monument on top of everything else!" Her sudden anger erupted and then vanished as M realized that he didn't deserve her ire. There were others who deserved it far more. She hoped Alec hadn't lost his edge and would be able to do what she asked.

"James always did like to go out with a bang. As one of your personal soldiers, it's the only way we seem to go." Alec grimaced at the glare she gave him.

"I suppose that is the truth of it, sadly. I had to find Q's replacement and that was difficult."

"Q's gone?" Alec was shocked but then again the man had to be in his eighties. "You and the old man went way back I can imagine." Alec said with a smile as he lifted his drink.

"Yes, he died eight months ago, just a month before…" M said aimlessly, but then seemed to catch herself.

"A month before whom?" Alec asked as his brows arched in questioning surprise.

M said nothing, but her hand went involuntarily to the rings on her left ring finger. Alec leaned back in surprise and his look softened. Her husband...when it rains it pours.

"I'm sorry, M. We've only ever been as close as you would allow, but I am sorry for your loss." Alec said softly surprised at his own empathy. MI6 in general never gave a shit who died, but sitting across from M, he realized that M did. As one of her agents, he had often wondered if the dominating icy woman could care about anyone or anything more than MI6.

"Yes...well it can't be helped." M straightened and shook herself out of her maudlin lapse, as if to regain her focus. Alec wondered now how many drinks she had already had today. It would be the only thing getting him through all this trouble and she would hardly be the first to find solace in a bottle.

"Do you know who will replace you?"

"I have my suspicions. A ex-military man by the name of Mallory tried to get me to take a graceful retirement." M said as her eyes lifted from her glass on the table, to the blue eyes of former agent across from her.

Alec scoffed. "They don't know you very well do they?"

M smiled. "No. I told them I would leave when this case was finished and not a second before. I don't actually know how long they will give me to recover from all of this." M's eyes darted around the pub as if looking for one of her hidden government enemies now.

Alec knew that there were many layers to that statement. Recover from the grief of losing Q, her agents and her husband. While defending herself to the government for hard drive theft, and the obvious infiltration into their systems.

Alec was about to re-enter the game and bring it to a new level. Janus may collapse but he had personal wealth stashed away and places to disappear should that happen. If he had to walk away, the others would simply take their portion and divide the spoils. Alec left enough for them to make himself less of a target, should he ever have to leave. He had years to plan his retirement, the one thing lacking was someone to share it with. He had always hoped that it would be James.

"Where should I start? The river in Turkey, or do you have any other leads?"

"No...that is all we know."

"I will find him M. When I do, what do you want me to do? Call or just bring him in?"

"Call; he may not appreciate having a ghost finding him, Alec. Stay in the shadows where I need you."

Alec thought It was the first time the woman had ever used his given name, or said she needed him with such passion of purpose. Her voice floated over him like silk.

This was M's power over all the orphans of MI6...she was the mum that they all craved and needed. Giving him a sense of purpose he had been lacking in the years since creating Janus, and going dark on her command.

M was the one link between MI6 and James Bond that Alec doubted he could sever. He felt it when they clasped hands. That need to belong, and be part of her world.

M was the one woman who could control James Bond, even if Bond denied it. She hadn't mellowed with time, she was still the same woman with an iron will, and orders to destroy.

To be continued


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _Note: One line from Alec to Bond is directly from "Goldeneye" and the CNN News report from Skyfall."_

Rated Teen+ for Mature language and sexual situation

* * *

Alec found James lying in a hut, six weeks later. Freshly fucked by the long legged beauty that was lying next to him. The man played to his strengths that was for sure. Women and booze would always be James' downfall. Alec stayed in the shadows around the hut for a few days to observe his old lover.

During this time, Alec watched Bond drink himself into a stupor and pass out at the bar. He had been tempted to take him back to his latest conquest, but what was the point. There was no way he would be functional in the state he was in. Frankly it pissed Alec off to see him in such a state. And over what? A mission gone bad, getting shot? It was not like that hadn't happened before. James always could be petulant and act like a bloody child. Why M even wanted him back was beyond Alec.

Before Alec could make the call to M's private line to say he found him, the news showed a scene from London. Bond had just managed to wake with the intrusion of dawn and his face fell when he saw the news. This reaction alone gave Alec some hope that James could climb out of the pills and booze he was currently relying on.

 _CNN Breaking News._

 _Emergency crews are still attempting to assess the damage as investigators hunt for leads in what now appears to be a major terrorist attack in the heart of London._

 _No-one has yet claimed responsibility for what sources are calling a possible "cyber-terrorist assault" on the British Secret Service._

 _Early reports from the scene indicate at least six dead, many more injured, with victims being evacuated to local hospitals within minutes of the explosion._

* * *

Alec followed him back to London, watching as he entered a nice house, in a posh neighbourhood. Alec wondered who lived there? He hadn't bothered calling M, assuming Bond would make his way into base at some point to see her. He knew Bond came from money and perhaps this was the house of friends of the family. In all likelihood it was an old lover's place. Regardless, he came out a few hours later looking pissed off, as he pulled his jacket up against the rain. Not an ex-girlfriend then, or at least not one happy, to see James in the state he was in.

Alec shivered from the cold rain himself, after being in the warmth of Turkey. Alec climbed in his car and called M. He told her that he had found and followed Bond back to London. She tersely told him that she was well aware, and told him he could slink back into the shadows as she wished.

Alec didn't want to just go back to Russia and be Janus again at her bloody command. He hadn't been this close to James in a long time. He wanted to take him to a pub and sit down with him...tell him everything. Admit his feelings and see where that took them.

* * *

The explosions in London had taken out M's office, sending them down into to an old underground facility. Alec broke into the new underground place, just to see if he could. He enjoyed using and pushing the former 00 thing to his advantage. In the end he will tell M that he could have blown their damp old bunker to shit if he had had the inclination to do so.

Q branch looked different. Q was a bloody pup! A very handsome one at that. Alec wondered how James took that, or if he even knew about this one stuck in the dreary sublevels. Maybe there was something interesting to do while he was here after all.

Alec was intrigued by this new Q. The lad seemed destined to dress like an old professor, with a mop of chestnut curls and glasses rounding out the look. He found that he couldn't help but press his luck and break into the facility more often just so he could observe the handsome young man.

James was busy attempting to kick his various bad habits and condition his aged body, back into something M could use as a 00 agent.

After a few weeks M had not even bothered to check up on Alec's or Janus' whereabouts. Granted she was busy and Bond was still in training.

Alec continued to watch the new Q, one day expecting to see Bond come in but he didn't. Eventually, Alec was hiding in Q branch, in plain sight, just another in a sea of lab coats with a stolen security badge. It made it easy to meld with the background, on another of his clandestine visits. Alec overheard Q mention 007 and having to meet with him at the National Gallery. Alec followed the handsome young man to the gallery to await Bond.

Alec walked in with a group of tourists from Canada and made himself blend unaggressive and uninteresting enough, into the background, He got only casually scanned by Bond as he entered to meet with the delectable new Q.

Bond bloody well flirted back with the pup, damn him. What was going on? It seemed as though the two of them had just met. From the look of their initial interactions the new Q was into Bond, Alec could see the nervous attraction coming off the man, as he quipped with James. So flirting with the young pup was fine, but the way the two of them connected all those years ago was something he wanted to forget?

Alec shook his head and walked out. He found out the next day as he was about to leave for Russia that there was suddenly a lead on man that stole the hard drive.

Bond was off to China and Alec planned to follow him to get some bloody answers. He kept to the shadows and it was easy to see that Bond was not yet on his game. It had been too long and M should have never let him back out into the field. He absently wondered if she had even realised that he had not heeded her orders to leave for Russia.

* * *

Agent 19 followed Bond to China for back up. Alec overheard her call someone when she arrived at the same hotel as Bond. The caller went by the name of Mallory. This was the man who was trying to push M out into retirement.

Eve Moneypenny was her name from what Alec had discovered by listening in. James would try to bed her, if he was anything like he once was. She may just do it, because Mallory wanted her to dig for information. Eve may foolishly assume that Bond would loosen up to her after sex. That was not the way it worked with 00's.

Alec followed Bond to the casino, Eve had left after her visit to Bond's room and who knew what the two of them had been up to while alone together.

Alec scanned the room and so did Bond. The good thing about being a ghost was that Bond would never ever expect to see him there. He was accepted in such places as Janus anyway, and what would Bond know of Janus.

M had made sure to keep the two of them from crossing paths over the years. It would only have ended badly for one of them if they had met again as agent and criminal. What Alec was now was complicated.

On one hand Alec was Janus, but M called him in, and since that moment 006 seemed to emerge from years left in a dusty room inside his head. How he felt about it was not as intense as he believed it would be. It was true that time mellowed a person, except for M, she seemed the same piece of work she always was, even with the minor display of grief that slipped through her steely mask.

Bond's eyes focused on a beauty coming down the stairs to the bar. This was definitely the mark.

Alec knew her! She was a go between for a man known as Raoul Silva. Bond seemed to have no idea what he had gotten himself into. Only M really knew, and of course she sent Bond out here injured. James was alone, but for Eve, the bloody traitor within M's organization.

Fantastic! Alec may now be forced out of the shadows, to keep his former friend and lover from being killed by yet another mad man.

Maybe M realised that Alec was going to follow Bond. Perhaps, this was part of the equation from the beginning. From the moment M pulled him back to London.

Alec shook his head as he left the casino, leaving Bond and Eve to get out of the dragon pit themselves. Janus had other fish to fry, the main one was Raoul Silva and what the crazy bastard had planned for Bond and M.

Alec had heard of an island that was controlled by Silva. He sent a message to some contacts in his organization. These years of being Janus had made him aware of many of the underground players in the world and what their modus operandi was. Silva however, had alway been a bit off and unpredictable. Rumour had it that something happened to him when he was younger, much like most of them, he and Bond included.

The past would eat you up if you let it, and Alec had been running from his for a long time. Alec hired a boat and headed towards the island's far side, by early morning. He had to be cautious in his approach, because he didn't know the extent of Silva's fire power. With only Bond and no sight of little miss traitor, MI6 would be very outnumbered.

* * *

Silva's woman slouched over dead while tied to the rock. Bond must have slept with her and come with her for the man to so callously kill her after all these years. There was really no other explanation as to why Silva would kill such a pretty piece of merchandise.

From what Alec knew of him, Silva was a spider with multiple arms and webs. He was connected to Quantum; the agency that M had Alec looking into, after her bodyguard tried to kill her several years earlier. He had given her tips over the years that she, in turn gave to Bond.

Bond managed to kill most of Quantum's operatives, and the rest were incarcerated thanks to Janus. After the bodyguard tried to kill their intrepid boss, Bond was a single minded machine when it came to Quantum, and the remnants were divided up into other organizations. Janus even took a few into use in his operations in Russia.

Bond finally found his opportunity and made his move, killing Silva's guard. Silva was actually laughing at being caught. That could only mean one thing, he had a plan. Bond was too blinded by rage for all that had happened to him, the girl and the eight dead in London, to see what Alec could see. A manipulative maniac with a plan.

Alec eased his way out of hiding as the helicopters sounded in the distance. Silva wanted to get caught, which meant he wanted to get to London and to the only target that Quantum had actively been after all these years. That target was...M and Bond would take him right to her. Alec watched as Silva fell to his knees in front of Bond, laughing and placing his hands behind his head in submission. Alec stepped out from behind one of the buildings and shot Silva in the head, the man fell face down at Bond's feet..

Bond looked at him like he had just seen a ghost as he pointed his gun at Alec.

Alec dropped his gun and got on his hands and knees, echoing what Silva had done to prevent Bond from killing him before he could explain.

"What the hell are you doing alive, Alec!? Why did you shoot him?!"

Alec couldn't explain it to his old friend yet, perhaps the young Q could assist him into the investigation the more important question. Who was controlling Silva like a puppet and to what end? Alec could see by the look on Bond's face that he wouldn't believe him anyway.

 _"I might as well ask if all the vodka martinis ever silenced the screams of all the men you've killed, or if you ever found forgiveness in all those willing women for all of the dead ones you failed to protect."_ Alec tossed at his old friend as he looked over at the body of Séverine.

Bond was incredibly angry as he neared Alec raising his hand to strike, but Alec never took the stinging blow he had expected. Bond stood fists clenched at his side, seething in anger for the lies between them. Two former friends and more.

The helicopters landed and one took the bodies. Bond walked away from Alec and onto the other helicopter. Alec followed, but their conversation ended due to the noise.

After they landed Bond spoke first. "I take it you want to come in willingly and I don't have to restrain you."

"No the time for restraint is over, as well as fun and games." Alec added suggestively.

Bond shook his head in anger and disgust at the man who had once been his good friend but who was now involved in all this somehow. Alive after Bond suffered thinking he had killed him years ago.

Bond drove the Range Rover with Alec in the front on the passenger side, once the had returned to the mainland. Bond had decided that Trevelyan did not mean to kill him yet or he would have let Silva do that on the Island. What he wanted to know is why he killed the perpetrator of all this? Silva deserved it, of that Bond was sure but why was Alec suddenly involved?

They made their way toward the small airport, to catch a flight back to London. A military plane took them back to London, as the two men slept. Once they had returned to London, a day later, Bond drove Alec towards the MI6 bunker.

"What you said to me...on the island...about the women and the drink. That was no bloody excuse! Why Alec?"

"Why did I leave you, or why did I shoot Silva?"

"Both!"

"Ask M. It was all her idea."

Bond's eyes opened wide in shock. "She wanted him alive!"

"She doesn't know that he wanted to be brought back to London. It was all part of his master plan and he has waited a long time to kill her."

"How would you bloody know!"

"She doesn't tell you more than you need to know, like a good little soldier, Bond. I heard what he said to you about her...he was not wrong. He WAS you and I, both of us left in the cold by her. The only difference was that he wanted her...more...much...much more."

"Enough! Don't you even think about…"

"What? All you need to understand now is that I have been M's ghost for years and that she called me in, just to find you in Turkey."

Bond looked intently at Alec to try to gage if he was telling the truth.

"It's true. I found you on that beach a few days before the bomb went off in her office. The only reason you went back to London was because you thought she might have died. Admit it, M needed help, that was the only reason you returned. So you decided to shake off the booze, pills and that long legged toy you were playing with, in that squalled hut on the beach. All for Queen and bloody country, yet again."

"That may have been part of it, but I had played dead long enough. Not as long as you did, I must have a greater sense of loyalty."

Alec smiled that knowing smirk he had always used when he knew more about something than Bond. "We jump when she calls. Do you not think that Silva was the same? Then again, he wanted more from her than a mother's praise."

"Shut it! I don't want to hear anymore of your theories on a man we didn't know existed until yesterday."

"You didn't know, but I did, and M just didn't realise that he had survived to haunt her with a changed name."

"If that were the case, why did Silva wait? He could have gotten to her years ago with his talents."

"A; it takes time to build an evil empire, I should know, I did it. B; he couldn't find her because MI6 changed her name to a letter and buried the details. As far as Silva knew she was dead, or missing. You're not asking the right questions James. Why did he know? How did he find out? This is far more disconcerting than you know, and M will be just as upset. My theory is that she is getting close to something, or someone who is blocking her and trying to have her killed. After all, Quantum already tried and she decimated them, thanks to you. Oh, wait...you never did get White did you?"

The rest of the ride was made in silence as James pondered what he had been told. "M is not going to be happy about this." He finally said as the information absorbed into his tired and confused brain.

"I did her a favour. Once he found out that she lived, he was going to either take her or kill her. As you know from your attractive dead girlfriend, that we brought back in a body bag. He is not kind to the ones he keeps."

Bond gripped the steering wheel tighter as the anger built within him. Alec chuckled at his frustration.

"What?"

"You're so frustrated by her lies, yet still concerned about how she feels. Come away with me and you will stop caring about that and have a better life."

"What? In the shadows as a player, a smuggler, or what ever else it is that you do at Janus. Yes I guessed or assumed. No wonder M always diverted whenever there was a whiff of your shady organization interfering with our operations."

"What is keeping you here really Bond? Not M, you let her think you were dead for three months. Is it that sexy agent 19, Eve? Or is it that cute little boytoy Q that has you all in knots?"

Bond glared at him, but said nothing.

"Well, at least don't tell me it's bloody, Tanner?"

The absurdity of the situation hit Bond as he looked to his old friend's smirking face and he began to laugh.

"No, but I will stay and fix this mess. How about you?"

"Depends on what the Queen of MI6 says. Are you taking me to her now?"

"Yes, why?"

"You better let her know because I'm dead and can't be seen there. Head to the Two Roses pub and drop me off. That is where I usually meet her. Bring her and the rest of the MI6 gang if you like...if her majesty gives you permission. I would like a chance to talk to that young, Q."

"I bet you would." Bond altered course to the pub they used to drink at, on occasion many years ago.

"I would love to talk with agent 19 also. You see, I'm still an equal opportunity lover, just like you. Speaking of lovers, I did hear about your woman...Vesper was it. She used you and then drowned? Is that what turned you into this worn out piece of a man? Half dead from the pills, drink and bullets thrown at you by one of M's younger agents?"

Bond narrowed his eyes at his former friend and scoffed. "I will ask M, but no promises."

"That sounds familiar. No promises...like the one to stay friends, even after having torrid sex with me?"

"That night is closed, or is this all a game to you now? Are you prodding me for weaknesses? I agree that our friendship was once a weakness, as was Vesper, but I've outgrown that now."

"As you and I both know; the arms of strange women become cold after a while. It's not difficult to find them and toss them away, because you are always looking for the one that can save you. In the end you can't, she's as elusive as a unicorn. Vesper's dead, and any dreams of a normal life died with her. We are jaded almost completely worn pieces of rock, being battered by the waves, and only standing due to an outdated sense of loyalty. Come on James, you handled Silva well when he flirted. You haven't lost the knack. Didn't the boarding school experience teach you that there is room for everything." Alec added suggestively.

"I've always been straight with you about my sexuality. I am not bisexual, but I've had to be with a man from time to time for the job. As for boarding school, you know that I was kicked out for playing with the maid." Bond added with a smirk.

"So, what about that night with me?"

"It was a drugged and it was a drunken mistake! I knew it the moment I was sober enough to realise what we did. Christ, Alec you were my best friend….and I….never wanted that with you."

"You wanted me pretty bad that night!" Alec exclaimed getting fed up with his puritanical attitude. "I never forced you onto your knees! You were not sucking me dry for information, you wanted to do it! I never heard you complain when I reciprocated. Is this how you treat all your men. What about that sexy new, Q?"

"Q? What?"

"He's a tasty little crumpet."

"When are you going to acknowledge that you took advantage of me that night! I was definitely not sober when I did it!"

"I think you doth protest too much Bond. You damn well enjoyed it!"

"How the hell would you know! You disappeared after it happened and I was damn surprised myself! I honestly barely remembered what happened. I remember you yanking me out of a woman's bed and then we were suddenly in bed...it was all so confusing and I had been drugged."

"Yes, I know. You explained it all to me in that Dear John letter I found beside me in the morning."

They drove in front of the pub and Alec climbed out. "Bond you have been with men and women, but does the sex of the person really matter when there is a strong connection?"

"No, but the other half shouldn't be responsible for sex when consent is questionable, but you always did have a problem with that, didn't you, Alec!"

"I like it rough yes, but I have never taken anyone who didn't want it and on some level you did!" Alec snapped realising that there would be no convincing the man by argument alone. Alec still wanted to make James his partner, but it would take some time to figure out once this mess was dealt with.

"Tell M, I will wait here no more than two hours. Her majesty know's how to reach me if she would like to meet me in private again."

Bond frowned. "I don't think she should meet you alone."

"You scared for dear old mum, Bond?"

"Don't call her that!"

"Fine! Well she has, and she's the boss, I guess you get no say in who she sees. Especially now that she's a widow."

"A what?!"

Bond pulled over and Alec opened the door and got out. He held the door open as he continued to pest Bond with things that had escaped the great 007's notice.

"You didn't know? When you broke into, what I now realise was her house, that rainy night you returned. Did you not realise that she now lived alone? So much for being a master spy. Those months away wallowing in booze and drugs muddled your brain, as much as it did that night with me." Alec turned abruptly and headed into the pub.

Bond drove away while digesting all this information from his infuriating former friend. He realised that he barely remembered the night they had spent together, except for the uncomfortable feeling he had the day after. He had attempted to forget that night with Alec, which was easy when the man concerned faked his death and disappeared in a fiery explosion.

It was obvious now, that, that night had affected Alec far deeper than he had imagined. All Bond remembered was the intense sadness of losing him immediately after that mess, made James lock away his feelings concerning Alec. The confusion and guilt Bond felt after stepping over that line and sleeping with Alec, was nothing to the grief of losing such a close friend.

There was only one person that he felt drawn to for years, yet never acted on, and that piece of information would remain buried.

Alec could try all he wanted, but Bond's heart would never be his, with all the lies and half truths, not to mention time between them. Alec didn't understand love, trust and devotion. Not that Bond was an expert concerning such matters. The core of it was that he didn't trust Alec, and looking back on their past, he trusted him too much then, when he shouldn't have. James wished the man had stayed hidden. He didn't want these old hurts pulled back to the surface after so long.

Bond didn't trust him, but it seemed like M did and that bothered him a great deal. After all this, what else was M hiding from him? Bond headed back to the underground bunker to give M the details on Silva's death and tell her about who waited at the pub. James wondered what else M had been hiding from him.

 **To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Bond found M and told her quickly about where Alec wanted to meet. "I know Bond, you're driving me. Tanner, Eve and Q are headed there now on my order.

She was already ready to go, her mobile in hand with a message from Trevelyn no doubt. Bond could not help but feel put out.

"M are you certain…"

"I wouldn't be having you of all people driving me there if I wasn't."

Bond ignored her jibe at his ability to drive and got the root of what was bothering him about this situation. "Alec Trevelyan has been the head of a bloody criminal organization and you knew about it! He has done countless criminal activities and is a menace."

"Bond, is it time for a history lesson? Hundreds of years ago the crown paid the Royal Navy to cast down their colours and become privateers, basically pirates to steal Spanish gold and later to harass the American merchant ships after their revolution. What I've managed with Alec is no different."

"I thought he was dead and I made my peace with that over time. It made it possible to ignore some of the unsavoury things that happened between us just before I thought he was killed in that explosion."

"I thought you of all people would feel better that you were not responsible for the man's death? He was a friend to you James. Regardless of what happened between the two you."

"Bond shook his head as he helped her through the parking garage into his car. "That's not the point, M."

"What is then?"

"You kept me in the dark and about more than Alec and Silva. I didn't even know your husband died."

Bond opened the door for her but M froze. His question about her husband made her pause. Why the hell would he bring that up now? She gave him a cautionary look and climbed in the car with Bond. "007, I prefer to keep my private life that, as you can well understand. Tanner was aware, it was sudden and I…"

"I'm sorry M." Bond looked at her in a way that typified the shared sense of loss that they had both felt many times over the years. Bond pulled out of the parking garage traffic and headed to the pub.

"Thank you Bond and I'm sorry that I could not tell you about 006, due to the nature of his undercover status as Janus. For what it's worth, I think it was you that made him willing to do it. I discovered his plot to go dark and I gave him little choice in the matter. He made himself an enemy to you and then died. It was easier that way. We often push away the those closest to us when we are in pain."

"I've gotten over worse." Bond said, as he weaved through London's early evening traffic.

"Yes, I know you have." M said as they looked at each other for a moment. Understanding passing between them in that brief moment until Bond turned his attention back to driving.

"M are you sure he is even remotely 006 and not completely Janus? Alec changed that night, he was a different person, one full of malice and hate. He was not remotely like what he was when we were friends."

"Janus has given me intel at key times over the last ten years and he came in the moment I called. We met at the pub we are going to now. I would bet he is as loyal as I can hope for, if that answers your question."

"Not really." Bond said scowling at her. "But it is what I expect from you."

"Well that is the only way to explain it Bond." M said in her voice rising in her own defence.

"How can you put your trust in a man like that? Now; when there was someone directly attacking MI6, directed at you personally. I don't think it's wise for the head of MI6 to be going out to pubs without guard and meeting a man who is responsible for so many deaths."

"I am responsible for more deaths than he is, so do stop pushing the- Alec's too dangerous card. If anything, I had a hand in making him the way he is, as much as those who killed his parents. Believe it or not 007 I'm not a bloody damsel that needs rescuing."

Bond sighed and rolled his eyes at his infuriating boss. "You were never an agent, you cannot protect yourself against men like that Silva, nor any other crazed ex-agents like Janus."

The two of them settled into silence, Bond was still smarting from being left out in the cold...as Alec had called it. Bond thought that he had earned her trust by now. After all that they had been through over the years.

Bond helped her out of the car as they entered the quiet pub, just as Tanner and the rest arrived. The owner nodded to M as he pulled some pints. He brought them over to the table and then walked to the bar, turning the open light off, as he disappeared into the back of the pub.

This must be a safe zone that M had created for meetings with Alec, or even others over the years. Bond would certainly be talking to Tanner about M's safety as soon as he had the chance.

Tanner's mouth hung open as he walked in and looked at a man, who as far as he knew had been dead for years. "006, Alec Trevelyan, you're alive!"

Q fidgeted nervously as did Eve. They sat down around the crescent moon shaped booth. Alec positioned himself between M and Q with Eve and Tanner beside Q and Bond beside M.

"Yes...yes." M said impatiently. "He has been a ghost operating as the head of the Janus organization for me for years, but that is not why we are here."

"Then why are we here M?" Bond said as he rolled his eyes. He was not happy about holding court here with Alec. The smirk on Trevelyan's face was telling. Alec felt he was in a superior position all of a sudden. Alec alway did like controlling everything, and years as the head of a crime syndicate had reinforced that within him.

"Jealous Bond?" Alec added as he leaned back and draped his arms along the back of the booth behind Q and M.

"For what? Having to live under a rock for years, hiding and only coming out to spook the rats." Bond glared at his former friend and tensed for a fight.

"Enough!" M exclaimed. "You two better begin acting like professional agents, or I'll bloody well give you both a time out!"

"Yes Ma'am." Both men said as they continued to glare at each other.

"First off, Alec was 006." M said directing this toward Eve and Q.

"Wait before you go further Ma'am, I think you should know that little miss agent 19 there, has been playing for a better role in the new regime." Alec informed them. All eyes turn to Eve, who looked taken aback but said nothing.

"I know that, and that is why Mallory is on his way here now." M said matter of factly. Now all of their focus was on M. "I need to tell you about Tiago Rodrigues, Silva as you know him. Then Alec will report on exactly why he felt the need to shoot him in the head. I wanted him questioned!"

"I would have thought you of all people M would have understood why I did it."

"I only needed you to find Bond. Once 007 was found you could have gone back to Russia at your first opportunity. I certainly did not ask you to go to China and follow Bond on his mission."

"You sent him out there in that condition, I was doing you, and him a favour. You should have seen him try to shoot. The pain killer and alcohol withdrawal had him shaking like a leaf." Alec protested.

"I was managing fine without your help! You failed to mention that I took care of five armed men all while you watched from cover. You could have prevented her death!"

"Oh no my dear James, her fate was sealed the moment you slept with her. Normal for you I would say."

"Enough!" M raised her voice and slammed her hand onto the table they all sat around. The lot of them froze from her action. Dispelling the some of the tension and animosity that was brewing between Bond and Alec. "What's done is done! I need to work on the present and future, the past is already written. The two of you should know that well enough now."

Bond and Alec nodded at each other in a tentative truce. M continued by telling them the tale of Tiago's foolish hacking of the Chinese and her tragic tradeoff. Bond had once been told by M that _regrets are unprofessional_ , but he could tell that M did regret the decision to trade the former agent.

"I never dreamt that the man had survived what the Chinese must have done to him." M said shaking her head.

Alec looked serious, "I understand why he wanted you destroyed M, but face it, there was more to it than that. Silva was conflicted and you ended up in the big chair because of it. The men in the ministry could finally see that you were made of steel and were able to be a man about the casual death of your employees."

"That's going too far, Trevelyan." Tanner said severely.

"Tanner...Tanner, I haven't even begun. Silva may have wanted you to suffer at his hands but he was sent on that path by another. I suppose we lowly agents and former agents cannot expect a straight answer from you, the Queen of spies." Alec added sarcastically.

Bond leapt immediately to M's defence. "You should have stayed dead and let me handle it Alec. Then Silva would be here, and alive to question. Then we would have the answer to who sent him after M and MI6. You claim to have some sort of knowledge about the man so share it, or did you send him? Was it you behind all this chaos, Janus?"

"Alec had nothing to do with this." M stated firmly. Alec smiled at her and leveled a taunting look towards Bond. The others were silently considering all this information, when Alec spoke up.

"I killed him because, I knew that he wanted to be caught, I told you that James and I was not lying. He wanted to get to London and into your base. Think about it...he caused the explosion that chased you out of your ivory tower down into the basement from hell, and from there had access to all of underground London. A maze for a rat like him to have allies and a plan ready and waiting."

"There would be access directly under the facility." Q pulled out his laptop, quickly typing rapidly researching the London underground. "He could have left a key in one of his systems and had we examined it at Q branch...well he could have escaped easily. That would take a lot of forethought and planning."

"Smart as well as devilishly handsome. M I love your choice in the new Q, such a bookish looking young man. I'm sure he has talents enough for the job, maybe even some hidden ones to entice, should you need to send him out into the field." Alec's lecherous gaze made Q blush, he focused on his laptop, trying to distance himself from the intensity of the man's steely gaze.

Alec looked back to Bond in order to gage his reaction.

"Trevelyan, explain exactly why you killed Silva and stop trying to insight a fight. I can't believe I ever managed to put up with the two of you at the same time."

"Your wish, as usual, M darling is my command." Alec said as he winked at Q on his right and then turned to M on his left. "I had heard of Silva's expertise over the years, and his business dealings came in collision with my own from time to time. That is how I knew his go between the moment I saw her, his girl Severine. Naturally; James was way over his head following the pretty bird back to the nest. What you don't know is that Silva had contacts in Quantum. As I told Bond, it was a little two coincidental that someone set Silva on the path to kill you M. You must be getting close to something important, and that someone wanted you dead."

"Kill me! How do you know that?"

"Because, Silva was obsessed with you and I think you know why. And it was definitely much more than just revenge for him."

"How would he know anything about M unless someone told him?" Tanner nodded agreeing with Alec but still confused.

"That is a bit of a leap isn't it?" Eve asked.

Alec glared at her with impatience and then turned to look at M. "I explained part of this to Bond but he was too upset that you had lied to him, yet again. A habit your majesty, that is getting you into hot water lately. Silva knew you and your real name as a section head in Hong Kong all those years ago. When you became M what happened?"

"They buried her identity." Tanner said in sudden understanding.

"There was no way he could have accessed our systems to find that out. Even with his talents. That information is buried deep very deep and Q branch flags attempts to even access that information." Q said. "Just a moment." Q typed away at his laptop and opened some files. "The fact of the matter is that it was last assessed in 2006. Oh I see it now, you accessed from your personal computer at the address you lived at, at the time M."

Alec noticed that M's eyes flashed to Bond's and then to Tanner's. "I see, so Tanner knows...I would expect that. But Bond? Why would you happen to know this particular secret about M?" Alec asked interested in what angle Bond was using against the boss. Getting a personal pick of assignment in all likelihood.

"Q, the former Q showed me some tricks to hack records, thinking that he was helping me on a case." Bond explained.

"You still did not need to know that much about your boss unless you were trying to blackmail her or prove something." Alec said with a suspicious smile.

"Let it drop." M said as she saw the door open revealing Gareth Mallory.

Mallory strode over to the table with a confused look on his face. "You called me here M?"

"Mallory; I would like to introduce you to an undercover asset that I have kept off the books for years. Alec Trevelyan, was 006, but has been heading up the Janus organization for us for a long time." M said.

"M, this is, very unusual. You're admitting to me, that you have a secret operation that is not at all legal or above board." Mallory asked in confusion.

Bond moved out of his spot at the booth to allow Mallory as seat beside M should he want it. Mallory continued to stand as if not sure if he would be staying at all.

"Well now, Mr. Mallory. You happen to be the government lackey who has the lovely Eve here on speed dial, getting information about Bond when he was in China." Alec added sarcastically.

"I see." Mallory said still standing beside Bond. Bond got up and went behind the bar and pulled the man a lager. "Thank you Bond. It looks like you weren't the only one playing dead eh? M; now that all the geese have flown home to roost. Why am I hear?"

"You are here because Bond and Trevelyan found and eliminated the risk. We have the hard drive back, Silva is dead and Q has cleaned house from any and all intrusion. However, we have reason to believe that this was a personal vendetta. Silva was given leave to kill me by a Quantum like organization."

"I see. So another secret society hell bent on killing you, specifically M? Last time wasn't it your bodyguard? I find that rather a stretch that all these organizations are gunning specifically for you."

"You haven't known her long." Bond quipped and Alec began to laugh, and for a moment it was like old times.

"Children!" M exclaimed, trying to disseminate difficult subject matter in a professionally detached manner. "I have some leads that Tanner, Q and I have been working on, but we lack a reason, for the specific reason I'm a target."

"I see; and you want me to bide for more time before the committee hearing forces you to retire." Mallory adds as he stood beside the booth in the empty closed pub.

"No, I want you to help me fake my death." M said matter of factly.

The table fell silent as they all looked at M. "My death will trigger something. Put something into motion, that I for one would like to be alive to stop."

"How can I help?" Mallory asked.

"You are in a good position to become M, if that was not already your plan all along. When you convince the PM to let you take over, you will allow Alec to leave and go back into the underground. Eve will become your personal assistant and Tanner remains chief of staff. 007's missions will consist of marks that Q and I identify as part of this organization that is trying to kill me."

"But you still haven't told me why they trying to kill you M?" Mallory asked.

"I've made many enemies in this job over the years and I cannot divulge information I do not quite know myself. What I do know is that there have been some familiar bomb signatures that the old Q and I had been working on identifying until his death."

Alec frowned and shook his head. "What if I don't feel like going underground M? I'm sort of done with six if you retire, I do not trust this one." Alec said nodding his head towards Mallory. "And personally I feel that it may be time to enjoy my retirement. I own a private island and everything." Alec said winking at Q. Q blushed shyly.

"Fine run off and pout just because Bond won't leave with you." M said, shocking the group further. Alec tensed, appearing angry and everyone moved out of the booth away from him. Alec moved, slightly, but before he stood up to leave, he leaned over and gave M a surprise kiss on the cheek.

"Be careful M. You don't want to make any more enemies than you already have." Alec smiled threateningly and stood up to leave. Everyone but M, was standing to allow Alec room to depart without incident.

Before Alec left, he leaned over to whisper in Q's ear on his way past the young man. "I will be in touch, little Q." Alec's eyes flashed to Bond, daring him to do or say anything about his comment to the handsome young man.

Alec left the pub and caught a cab. He didn't know where he was going yet, but he really wanted someone with him when he left London. His time with Bond was obviously over and he was now quite content to wash his hands of the man. Moving forward was really the only hope anyone had to survive in this world.

Alec had scars enough for a lifetime. He would love to take Q and maybe that Eve, if he could lure them away from M. Both of them would be a challenge, but whatever, more the merrier. Alec smiled as he considered the three of them lounging in the sun of Bora Bora.

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

In the first month after they all met in the pub, Janus returned to Russia and put out word that he was interested in expanding his business. There was a vacuum left by Silva's death and Janus had some computer coders he offered up for hire. Hopefully, these inquiries would facilitate some meetings with people who had something to do with tormenting MI6. Not to mention that it would expand Janus' influence farther east. If anything it will create a buzz and put yet another target on Janus' head.

Olivia knew without having to ask, that Alec would continue to help them investigate who was after her. If only, because he knew she lived. Alec would do it for her, because in some respects she was still pulling strings at MI6.

Tanner, Mallory and the rest helped M appear to die in an automobile accident. She was afforded honours upon her death and a large funeral attended by high ranking officials from the government and SIS groups from around the world. A public spectacle with a lot of press to pull out those who were hiding.

* * *

In the year after meeting in the pub, Mallory had consolidated his control of MI6 and Alec had begun to ruffle feathers and close down his part in the Janus organization. Once Alec ceased to be the head of Janus, MI6 would dismantle it within a few months. Rounding up all the information and contacts that Alec had made over the last years to eliminate as threats to world security.

Unfortunately there were more eyes on the world security front that were beginning to stir up trouble for the new M.

After Alec officially ceased to be Janus, he made an unauthorized visit to Q branch and left a gift for the young Q. He found a box buzzing in his desk drawer, as he looked so see that it was a mobile. It looked to actually be made of real metal, silver with a large gold Q inlayed on the back. it was very flashy and very heavy.

Q looked down at the mobile and found a text message:

 _I needed a contact within MI6. Bond will not answer on any of the number's I've managed to dig up through your systems._

 _Don't worry I didn't find anything too controversial._

Q texted back. "I can't believe you did this! Now I will be here all night checking up on your intrusion."

 _I would rather not have caused you such difficulty but it was necessary._

"Why do 00's and former ones always cause me such grief?" Q responded to Alec as he sighed and started to go over the video surveillance for the lab.

Q was initially irritated by the extra work it caused him for a few days, but it was better that they had some way to contact the man.

Alec contacted him to flirt from time to time, but he would never divulge where he was and this worried Q. He imagined the man standing across from his flat watching and waiting in the shadows.

None of this was a good idea, Q knew that, but he couldn't help but respond to the mysterious man on occasion. Q heard a ping come from his messenger bag while at work. He retrieved the mobile Alec had given him and read the text

 _Are you alone-_ Q responded to him. "Not really. I'm in lab full of people."

Q didn't know what compelled him to actually answer the man but he did. He should bring this directly to M, but somehow he thought it best that he kept this quiet.

 _You will not give this to imposter M. It is your only link to what I know._

Q messaged back, suddenly scared that the man seemed to guess exactly what he was thinking. "Do you know something that you would like to share?"

 _Oh darling, I know so much that it would make your head spin. I want to learn more about you but I don't have time now. I will be in contact soon._

Q waited for something further but it did not come. He tossed the mobile back in his messenger bag and continued working.

Alec didn't message back for over a week. When he did message him back it was in the late evening and decidedly more flirtatious in nature.

 _Favourite season?_

Q pondered the meaning behind the text. "Autumn." That was the end of Alec's correspondence that night.

Then next night the now familiar ping sounded at the same time, 20:00.

 _Favourite colour?_

"Green." Q responded. "Do you have any pertinent information you want to give me?" There was no response until the next evening.

 _Favourite book?_

"Seriously, do you have anything important for me to tell M?"

 _Yes and no. I have information for the real M, not the imposter who is dealing with Max Denbigh._

"What do you want me to pass along?"

 _So you do have a contact for her. Where is she?_

"I can't tell you that."

 _You may change your mind about that soon. What book?_

"I can't believe you are still on about my favourite book when you obviously have some serious misgivings about our current departmental problems."

 _Book?_

"Fine! HG Wells-The Time Machine."

 _Ha...I knew it!_

Q smiled to himself as he cleaned up from dinner, thinking on where the irritating ex-agent was in the world. He had done the searches and MI6 was not cleaning up the Janus organization with the help of the CIA. That avenue of information ended when M, and Alec faked their deaths. The current M knew that Alec was alive and tasked Q with tracking him down. M planned to send Eve and Bond after him once he found a location and Bond was off his extended leave of absence.

Bond was correct in trying to rehabilitate after the Silva incident, and being shot by Eve. Bond would never let Eve live that one down.

Q continued to look into the past and Alec's missions specifically with Bond. A week later a text came in.

 _The nine eyes is not what it seems, warn them._

Q frowned and typed back. "Come in and give your report."

 _Not my M, not my MI6, especially now. Politics is not your friend at the moment my lovely Q._

"What do you know?"

 _You will need to do a little more than that darling._

 _Cats or dogs?_

"Cats."

 _Named?_

"Would you just please give us something to look for! Where is the organization? Do you know what they are called and why they came after M...her?"

 _Bond is already on the lead. M must have finally figured it out, just as I managed to uncover the bomb makers name._

"Where is Bond? He's on leave and we haven't seen him in months."

 _All that I know is that If James is involved you will know soon enough. There will be explosions darling._

Q frowned and called Eve and Tanner to ask them to meet him at the pub.

* * *

Bond was running along rooftops in Mexico, as the bomb blew and block exploded during the day of the dead festival.

Sciarra was gone after a long drop out of a helicopter into the busy festival in the square. He did leave a ring behind as a clue. Q may be able to piece this together once Bond managed to get back to London.

In London, Mallory was yelling at Q and Tanner because he knew nothing about the situation and now he had a meeting with the Prime Minister to deal with. Q, Tanner and Eve only suspect the reason why Bond suddenly diverted to Mexico because of Alec's messages to Q. Bond destroying a block in Mexico could only mean that he was ready and working again on something for Olivia Mansfield.

They were very stressed that they were holding things back from the new M but at least this gave Mallory plausible deniability. Even if it also made him seem incompetent. This was not good in a time where the new government was looking for departments to cut and amalgamate as a cost saving device.

Olivia lived somewhere in the north as far as they knew. Not even Q was sure and he didn't want to dig into that incase there was a security breach and this organization found out. Only Bond knew and not even the current PM knew that the former head of MI6 was alive.

* * *

Days later Tanner met Bond when he returned from Mexico City and Bond shared with him where Olivia Mansfield was. He did this just in case something should happen to him while tracking down this shadowy organization that had sent Silva after her.

If Bond found out that Alec had anything to do with this, he would track him down and kill him slowly.

Bond had been looking into Janus' past dealing, ever since Alec returned from the dead. Janus was known mainly as a brokerage dealer between weapons providers. Until Alec revealed himself, they assumed no one knew who the leader was. Now that Janus was no longer, Bond feared that Alec would become bored and he was a dangerous man who knew too much that could hurt them. There may come a time sooner than later where M needed him to put Alec down.

* * *

Q dug around and found out that Janus had an extremely philanthropic side for a crime organization. The information he provided had led to many of the missions the 00 agents were assigned to in the last ten years.

Tanner brought the boat into the underground passageway into Q branch.

Q was acting strangely nervous and when Bond sat down to be injected with smart blood, Bond bantered with him casually. Q whispered something in Bond's ear. "Alec has been by?" Was all he said.

Bond pulled Q as far away from Tanner and others as possible to have a private conversation with him. James assumed that Alec must be threatening Q for information, or more.

This was one of the reasons why Bond only told Tanner where M was living and working. He didn't trust Q with the information with Alec pressuring him, with who knows what and how often. Bond would have to keep him in the dark a while longer.

Bond did however ask Q, to mask him for some time hidden from Mallory to finish a mission Olivia had given him. Bond was on a time limit, he had to get to Rome. He couldn't stay long and talk with Q more, about what was going on between him and Alec. He assumed Alec wanted Q to abandon the sinking MI6 ship, and disappear with him.

"Q, if he's pressuring you to do something you don't want to do, let me or Eve know. We will take care of him should he get too much for you." Bond said in a serious tone.

"No, no, he's...just...bothersome but not...well you...he...is fine for now." Q stammered as he blushed in embarrassment. "What happened between the two of you?"

Bond frowned. "We were friends. Things got out of hand one drunk night and Alec wanted more. It was a misunderstanding and I didn't share his feelings in that way. I rebuffed him and it sent him into a spiral. I wasn't sure what was happening with him, not knowing that M had enlisted him in something different. I confronted him and thought I had killed him. It took some time but I made peace with That. Look; I told him that I had no interest in you romantically, nor Eve. He assumed that I do and that may be part of his motivation for bothering you. I don't know if you or any of us should trust a word Janus says, but if you go with him, and ever need to escape him, call me."

"That somehow make everything seem worse. I knew that you and I were nothing more than friends, regardless of what Alec assumed. Now he is possibly just using me as a way to bother you."

"Alec would have grown tired of that months ago, no he does admire you or he wouldn't be pushing your buttons by breaking in here to watch you work."

Q walked back towards his work table and sighed, as his shoulders rose and then fell, his head tilted to the side. "I have read his file and asked Tanner about him, but like you, he is distrustful. Yet M trusted him, so could he really be that far gone?" Q pleaded.

"I don't know. Having him out there bothers me, should he ever turn against us again. If you like Alec, all I can tell you is to proceed with caution." Bond could see that his friend was attracted to Alec and this may only lead to disaster, yet he didn't have it in him to dissuade the lad too much. Bond refused to meddle in any romantic plans of Alec after all that had happened before.

"You said he fancied Eve too?"

"Alec was a brilliant agent and he could easily entice anyone he aimed his charm at. He is fluid in his desires and has always been attracted to the individual. The scars may make him seem less appealing to some now, but he was a handsome easygoing man, or so he seemed a long time ago. What he is now is up in the air and I don't completely trust him."

Q looked at Bond and smirked. "The scars do give him a dashing air about him, a man of mystery."

Bond shook his head laughing lightly. "Whatever you say Q."

"Yes." Q whispered to Bond as he picked up some equipment off the table. "Bond I told you to bring me the equipment in one piece, not bring back one piece." Q said loudly enough to be heard around the room.

Later that evening Bond made his way back into Q branch to take the DB10 away from agent 009. He left a bottle of champagne for a gift. Something told Bond that Q may need it to waylay his nerves, should Alec show up to see him again. Or Q would have to give it to 009 for appeasement.

Bond played with the silver ring in his pocket. The ring he took from Sciarra he would keep with him. He didn't think Q's underground lab was entirely secure, by the ease at which Alec had managed to get in.

By the way Q was acting, there must be listening devices everywhere. Ever since the rumours about MI5 and this Denbigh character came about with the change in government, the agency was more paranoid than before.

* * *

Olivia was right and all hands pointed to this shady organization and the octopus ring Bond took from Sciarra in Mexico.

Rome was an eye opener. The organization killed it's members families after they died. Bond saved the widow, and he loosened her up enough to give him the information he wanted. She told him what the ring was for and where they were meeting.

The man in the shadows, at the head of the table seemed so familiar, that for a moment Bond was afraid it was Alec. In the back of his mind, Bond had been worried that it was Alec since he had returned. The fear that Alec had actually caused all this for some sort of elaborate revenge.

Bond knew that Alec's loyalty was only to himself, and that was all he cared about. He sent cryptic texts to Bond now and again, that he had then ignored. One of the things Alec seemed to care about was Bond, and his infatuation with Q. It all came down to jealousy. Alec thought James was somehow infatuated with Q and that enticed him further. None of this would help keep Alec loyal to MI6. If anything it would dismantle MI6 faster than the government by taking Q away. If this was Alec's diabolical plan from the beginning he would definitely shoot him.

Bond had a feeling that Q was enticed by Alec, by the way the lad spoke of him and the slight blush that appeared on his face when he did. Bond did worry, becuase Alec was relentless when he had a sexual target to pursue and he rarely gave up.

Bond did not want Q to leave MI6 and he didn't want him hurt.

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Warning: Sex and sexual situations, not detailed in description.

Q managed to meet up with Bond at a clinic in Austria, in a panic over Mallory. Tanner and Mallory had been calling Q asking about Bond and the DB10 being pulled out of the Tiber after a high speed chase through Rome. Needless to say, M was not happy and want's Bond in London as soon as possible. Q was fearful of the outcome for all of them not to mention his mortgage and his cats.

Q entered the expensive private medical facility at the top of a mountain and found Bond at the health bar. Alec followed not far behind, and that was a complete surprise to Q but not to Bond.

Alec knew where to find White and his daughter, but Bond insisted on going in alone to meet with Doctor Swann. They refrained from anything more than a small terse chat at the health drink bar before Bond disappeared upstairs for his evaluation with Dr. Swann.

"Stuborn idiot!" Alec said tursly as Q nodded and headed for the exit. "You should wait for my little one and I have to stay and see that Bond is capable enough to get her out of here should someone arrive to take her.

"I will meet you all at the hotel, what could they want with me anyway?" Q said in exasperation as he left the two stubborn agents to thier own devices.

* * *

Alec barely managed to pull Q off the gondola before the hired thugs got to him. Alec eliminated them quickly and stuffed them in a storage room. He grabbed Q by the arm, "don't worry love, I've got you." Alec purred into his ear as he took him from the crowded gondola platform to a car he had waiting to take them to the hotel.

Alec helped him out of the car and could feel the lad shake though his heavy winter garb. Q was wearing a flannel plaid shirt over a grey turtleneck. Alec was all in black under his black winter gear. Q wondered if there was a specific clothing store all agents preferred because Bond is basically dressed the same in black jeans and a black turtleneck. These odd thoughts popped into his head due to the stress of the situation. He had almost been bloody well killed! They had been watching him or aware of his moments reguardless of the length that he had gone to disappear securely. This was horrible, these people could see everything, knew everything and they had bloody well come up with a way to fight this or the world as they knew it would become a much darker and dangerous place.

"I'm sure this is all normal for the two of you, but you're both agents. I'm entitled to feel rattled!" Q said in defence of his shaking. They walked down the hallway to Q's hotel room to wait for Bond.

Alec entered first with his gun in hand as he cleared the room before allowing the handsome curly haired young man into the room. "I hope Bond manages to meet us and didn't get to distracted by the lovely Ms. Swann."

"How do you know?"

"Know what?" Alec asked confused.

"That's she is lovely?"

"I've been here for days waiting for you all to figure it all out to show up."

Q took of his coat and plugged in his computer as he placed it on the table. He took the silver octopus ring out of the pocket he placed it in when Bond gave it to him at that health bar at the medical facility.

"I should get back to London. I need to warn M..."

"No, you will stay here with me to pull any others following you or Bond, out into the open. There has to be a leak. Tell me everything about this nine eyes program being forced on the new M. It stinks of Silva and I thought we were all done with him."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Q exclaimed as he typed away frantically at his laptop. "What about this Franz Oberhauser?"

"What about him? James told me years ago that he was dead."

"The DNA on the ring says it comes from him."

"Shit! Bond may be walking right into a trap. Make sure the seals are closed and no one mentions mother, in any way that could lead them to her."

Q worked frantically and patched through a secure line to Tanner and Eve. Mallory and Tanner were just getting in from their meetings in Tokyo with C, voting on the nine eyes. Q and Alec relayed the information to them.

Alec asked Eve to come collect Q while he followed James' trail. That decided, Alec ordered dinner and a bottle of wine to the room. Mallory told Alec to stand down and let Bond handle it. He made his bed now let him sleep in it sort of clap trap.

"I don't understand how you tolerate that man?" Alec asked Q after disconnecting the call.

"He's not all that bad. He cares and tries to do the best he can, but the changes are getting us all down."

Q tried not to act nervous around the handsome older man but failed completely. Alec laughed, "Calm down lad. I won't bite unless you want me too."

Alec watched the news as Q worked, as they waited for room service. Within the hour the knock came and Alec made his way cautiously to the door with his gun.

Q flushed red and loosened his collar. "I..I don't mean to be harsh but do you plan to stay here until Eve or James arrives?"

"Alec took a piece of bread and a sip of wine. "Yes, do I bother you that much? I did save your life, while dear old James disappeared after that woman. I will give you a free piece of advice about that one, he always leaves for the woman. It never goes well for him, but he keeps trying to find the woman of his dreams. I think the closest was that Vesper girl and that was a disaster. Bond prefers the straight and narrow, regardless of what and whom he has had to do in the past."

"I can assure you I don't think of 007 that way." Q added indignantly.

"Ha! You're lying. Everyone that has a pulse thinks of James that way, even without the need for him to use charm. He is a rather mechanical man, now that a woman broke him...do you think this next bird has a chance?"

"I can assure you I do not know and I do not think about 007 in any way but professionally. And in that capacity he is annoyingly and frustratingly never doing what I ask. Always destroying everything we give him, I mean how hard is it to keep one single vehicle safe. I swear he destroys things on purpose just to irritate me and M. Why didn't he take his own DB5 and destroy that!"

Alec laughed at the man's rant, closed the man's computer and tossed it on the bed. "Now we will eat like civilized men and have a conversation and get to know each other better."

"Alright. I do tend to get caught up in things." Alec opens the trays and allows Q to choose first. He pours the man some wine and they sit back and enjoy a meal.

"What do you think of Bond?"

"I'm trying not to think of the trouble and destruction that man causes. I am trying to enjoy this food and not think about the fact I almost died an hour ago. Did you know he stole the DB10 I pain stakingly modified and dumped it in the Tiber?"

Alec smiled, "yes, I saw the news report. So that made you rush to his side?"

"You keep insinuating that there is some sort of romantic relationship between 007 and myself but I can tell you are looking in the wrong direction. What about you and Bond? You were more than just friends, he told me a bit…"

"I see...he did, did he, only once. He was too drunk to say no apparently, but I foolishly thought it was something more to it than that. I thought; no I hoped that his flirtation with you could mean that he wasn't opposed to a relationship with a man again."

"You fell for him?" Q said a tad shocked.

"Don't make it sound so unsavoury. Am I really all that bad?"

Q was suddenly under intense scrutiny from the rough handsome, blonde man. "No, not at all, I just…"

"You just what? Are in a relationship? In love with the unobtainable Bond?"

"No, I'm just more comfortable with my two cats and no relationships beyond those few friends at work."

"So you would rather lie around all day in bed with a computer, rather than a experienced lover who could make you scream in passion?"

"Well, uh...I...uh...think...that is...that's rather personal."

The door sounded and Alec jumped up and headed to the door with his gun out. Bond and a blonde woman came in the door. "Q?" Bond said. Alec pointed into the room.

Q opened his computer moving the diner dishes, to place it on the table. He waved Bond over to see what he found on the ring.

Alec smiled opening his arms out wide as he stood to the side. "Well...well, the gang's all here. Well, you know without he who shall not be named, her male imposter, her right hand man and lovely secretary. You found the old man's daughter I see." Alec said sizing up the woman as he walked around her appraising her with his gaze.

Bond hadn't really introduced Madeleine Swann. "Her name is Dr. Madeleine Swann. Madeleine this is Q and Alec."

"I know who she is! I've been watching her for days, waiting for you to show up Bond. Where to next?" Alec asked.

"You stay with Q and keep him safe, we will head to find L'American." James said quickly.

"I don't really take orders from you, but in this case I will consider it a pleasure." Alec purred, while looking at Q. "I see that you will have your hands full with another victim to your charms James."

Bond looked furious and Madeline looked riled. "I'm not going anywhere with any of you!" She protested.

Alec approached her, close enough to make her uncomfortable. He grasped strands of her hair between his fingers. "You will help us end this and you will undoubtedly end up screwing Bond. I will just warn you now, that most that do are irrevocably damaged or dead. In my case, I faked my own death. I personally think there is someone else, but Q here says it's not him." Alec added, taunting the woman and Bond. "No matter how much the young man may daydream over how James looks in a suit. James was quite impressive, years ago my dear and I'm sure you will enjoy him tremendously, I know I did."

"Don't you idiots understand that it was you that brought those men to my door! I was hidden and in your misguided attempt to rescue me you've done the opposite! You exposed me! Where is my father?" Madeleine screamed in frustration.

"NO! It is you that doesn't know what you're talking about! Alec yelled back. "They were looking for you anyway. Your father was a good as dead anyway and they always kill the family members after one of theirs dies. Don't they James, you remember the charming widow you saved from Rome...what was her name...Lucia.

Bond pulled Alec's hand away from her hair holding his forearm tightly, while glaring at the man. His eyes do not leave Alec's as he stared his former friend down. "Q do be a dear and tell me what you've found so I can get back to work. You remember work don't you Alec? What the rest of us do while you hide in shadows, waiting to torment some unsuspecting soul." Bond said intently staring at Alec as if daring him to start a physical fight.

"Ah...I see that the DNA from three donors, Silva, Sciarra and your childhood foster brother Franz Oberhauser." Q said out loud in the hopes of distracting the two killer agents about to rip each other apart in his hotel room.

"I knew it was him!" Bond exclaimed.

"So this was all a vendetta against you?" Alec said surprised as he shook away from Bond. "I thought he was after...M?"

"She was getting too close. If he's in charge of this nine eyes program, he may be able to find her." Q said concerned.

"Who is this woman you're all so worried about?"

"Nevermind." Bond said. "Alec take Q home and I can't believe that I'm actually going to say this, but could you please go watch over M, or better yet get Tanner to go with an entire team."

"What? I told you I'm not yours, nor the new and improved M's to order around!"

"Q?" James implored.

"I will make sure she is taken care of." Q stated.

Alec scoffed. "I would rather take you on a world tour. Eve's on her way here to come collect you, so perhaps she could join us?"

"Alec may agree to accompany Eve and I to be useful. If not we will leave him behind." Q added in all seriousness. Bond rolled his eyes and Q stood with his hands on his hips as he literally and figuratively put his foot down. "You will come with us and help guard...you know who, until Bond says to stop!"

Alex hand's shot into the air and he protested. "But why would he stay in such a stressful low paying job? MI5 is about to push you all out on the bloody street." Alec said haughtily. "It's not like she will need protection if no one know's she's alive!"

"Alec...come on now, be part of the team." Q entreated with a even, conciliatory tone.

"Don't use those eyes like that! I hate being part of this bloody team! I don't owe her anything more, and nor do either of you!"

"Q?" Bond asked hoping for his assurance and backup.

"I will not abandon her...MI6 Bond, don't worry."

"Yes James, don't worry you will see your cute little Q again, once you come back and this one has outlived her usefulness." Alec added bitterly as he leaned against the bureau and crossed his arms.

"Now who's jealous Alec? Looks like you've still got your signals crossed, yet again. Q and I are no more than friends. Why are you suddenly hunting around for anyone that you think I'm involved with? Eve and I are only friends also, so you can cross the two of them off the list. Those that I love are officially dead, as you so rudely pointed out to Ms. Swann, most of the people I've loved in my life unfortunately end up like that." Bond yelled at the infuriating man.

Bond had not wanted to hit him this bad since just before he vanished in Russia. The explosion took care of that for him, or so he thought at the time. Unfortunately, Bond didn't have time to fight him about any of this.

Alec ignored Bond while he continued to lean against the furniture, attempting to seem casual while staring at White's daughter, trying to discern if she was part of all this on a deeper level.

"Fine! Q; since Alec is unwilling to be useful and help, please make sure Tanner goes to look after M. He knows where."

"Don't worry 007, I will make sure she's safe." Q said. "I promise you."

Bond grabbed Madeleine's hand and pulled her through the door, to make their way towards L'American.

* * *

Alec watched as Q went back to the table and his computer. "While you're busy love, you should find out what you can about White's daughter. I don't trust her."

"I already did that for Bond, and she has no connection to the underworld of her father. Bond knows that!" Q snapped at him.

Q was busy typing a message away to Tanner or someone else as Alec watched him from across the room. He felt it prudent to remain quiet for a while to allow the lad to calm down.

After what seemed like an age Alec could no longer just watch the object of his affection, He felt many things looking at the attractive younger man, but mostly desire. Alec closed the laptop and pulled Q out of his chair, kissing him hard and suddenly. He pulled away to look at the flustered young man in front of him.

"What?" Q struggled for both air and words. Alec was passionate and so very visceral. He had always thought that Bond would be like this. In all honesty, he had always had a crush on Bond, just like Alec had suspected. However, Bond was lost to a woman in his head and heart. Which woman Q was not exactly sure, maybe Bond didn't even know, or handn't met her yet.

"I've been accused of being forceful, but my philosophy has always been to seize the day. You never know when it will be your last. It should actually be a recruiting slogan for MI6. Don't you think?"

Q was still very close to him, trying to regain his breath. "I can understand that, but I will not run away with you. I have a job to do."

"I respect that. Do you want to run away from me now?"

"I...I think...I'd risk staying...if...I'm to wait for Moneypenny to come."

"Good." Alec pulled the tall curly haired younger man deep into another searing kiss, entangling the man's soft curls in his hand.

"The excitement of a mission always gets the heart beating faster. Now you understand the adrenaline that we agent's feel." Alec said as he quickly pulled off Q's shirt and then pulled the jumper over Q's head, grasping the waistband of his jeans. He yanked the young man flush against him and kissed him again, just as hard. He could feel the young Q through his jeans. No doubt he could feel Alec's arousal also.

Q began pulling at Alec's jumper and pulled away to remove it over his head. Alec waited patiently with a smirk on his chiseled face, waiting for Q's next move.

Q trailed his hands up Alec's arms to his shoulders, looking at the scars and marks on his muscular chest and arms. Q swallowed hard, and looked up to see the amused face of the stubborn former 006. Q pulled him towards him, it was now his turn to kiss Alec.

It was a sweet kiss and not as rough as Alec's, but urgent as the intensity between them grew. Clothing fell to the floor as they tumbled into bed.

Neither man could claim hold over James Bond's heart, nor did they care any longer.

* * *

Alec didn't expect to feel this content lying in the younger man's arms but he sighed as he looked at the rumpled attractive younger man. It had been a long time since Alec had tried to enjoy time with anyone. Everyone seemed to pale in comparison to the one he wanted, the one he left. Bond never truly left Alec, but he had confronted him about that night and Bond wanted nothing of it.

Alec thought by taking Q he would be taking part of Bond too. He really thought that Bond and the young man...but no. That woman Vesper seemed to have ruined 007 for anyone.

"Are you thinking of James?" Q whispered quietly.

"Yes, but it's not what you think. We're done, I don't even know if I will ever see him again."

"You sound sad about it. Did you love him so much?"

"I thought I did. But, now...now I think he was right and it may have been just an obsession. Bond has his obsession, his need to go after Franz, to save MI6. I don't understand his passion for an ideal that has done nothing but hurt his personal life. Spies do not live long and happy lives. I offered, for him to come away and live like a king with me and I will offer you the same. The three of us together would be unstoppable."

"I need to stay with MI6 to see this through."

"I could see you and Eve taking me up on my offer. The three of us would be an unstoppable team, but since Bond is unavailable, Eve would be fun. Why so devoted, you haven't been there long?"

"We don't want to disappoint M."

"M? M? He has only been there six months at most?"

"Not Mallory. The real M."

Alec propped himself up against the headboard. "That is one of her most diabolical super powers. Where is she?"

"I can't tell you that!"

"I overheard something about north, can't remember from who, likely a call from the new M."

"You've been bugging the new M!?"

"No but that Denbigh has and I hijacked on his bug. Don't worry he will never understand who Mallory was referring too, but referring to her as mother went with James made sense for those of us who knew that she's still alive. I have not heard from her personally in months."

"I suppose, Bond has a home in Scotland I do believe."

"Scotland, is she...could she be?"

"What?"

"My God!"

"What?"

"Bond took her to Skyfall." Alec said in shock. "Bloody hell!"

"What!" Q was starting to become concerned but Alec smiled a large genuine smile that quickly turned into a laugh.

"Before she sent Bond to Mexico where was Bond?"

"He took a leave of absence for a few months to Scotland, why?"

"Christ! It was her...it has always been her! I knew he would never leave MI6 until M stepped away, but this?"

"What are you implying?"

Alec began to laugh hysterically and then kissed Q on the mouth. "Don't you see boy, he was so shocked when I said she was a widow! All the women he had loved are _'officially dead.'_ James was concerned, almost jealous when I told him that she was in contact with me...ha, ha, James Bond and M!"

"What! As in together, together! As in romantically!?"

"Yes! All under everyone's nose, the most casual of secret affairs has been going on. M's tears when she called me in to find Bond's body...she knew if anyone could find Bond it would be me. The only reason she called me in, was because of her desperation to find her lover. The government would not pay to look anymore and she was desperate. Desperate enough to call me back in."

"I can't believe it! How long?"

"Years likely, I don't know much about her husband but they could have been just married in name only."

"I have no idea. That sort of thing is not in personnel files. I wonder about that girl, White's daughter?"

"Oh James will still be allowed to do his job, M would never stand for him shirking his duty. Bond was on that beach for months punishing M for having him shot, he didn't race home until he thought she was in real danger. For all we know he might have wanted her to leave the old man for him and the shot from Eve was the last straw."

Alec had always thought that the organization was holding Bond somehow, but now he understood. M was not just the mother they all craved. She was much more to Bond.

"This is insane, if they had been caught..."

"Yes, that sly bastard has been having an affair with the boss. She would have been destroyed politically by the government. They would have shamed her into retirement. I on the other hand, would have given her a bloody reward for pulling it off!" Alec added in amusement.

"It must be very deep if they were willing to lose their jobs over it."

"I hate to leave you love, but the second Eve gets here to take you back to London I will follow James to make sure he survives all this. I will then take him back to her. I want to see this face to face, confront the two of them. Then I will return to claim you."

"I will have work to do to help Mallory…but."

"There are others that can do that. I think I would like to take you away for a vacation, somewhere tropical. I own a house on a beach in Bora Bora you may enjoy. It is fully equipped with a lab for you to use. Think about it, you... all alone on an island, think of what we could do. We could run the world together."

"I'm not running anything with you Alec so stop scheming. Besides, it will be months before I can get away." Q said flustered yet not opposed to the idea completely.

"Fine. Once I spend sometime taunting Bond, I will send you tickets."

"I think you should leave them well enough alone. Eve massaged and she will not be here until morning." Q said after checking his mobile.

Alec shifted on the bed, now hovering over the young man, who had managed to make Alec smile more in the last few hours than he had in an age.

"Are you jealous so soon pet?"

Q had difficulty meeting the man's eyes as he blushed. "I...well...perhaps…"

"Perhaps what? Perhaps you want a cup of tea, or another round of play?"

Q reached his arm up around Alec's neck and pulled him down to his mouth. Thus ending the questioning. They pulled apart, solely to catch their breaths. "I could use a cup of tea."

Alec laughed. This one was going to be an enjoyable new adventure.

"Well; I wouldn't want my new love to get cold now would I?"

"You've been out in the cold too long haven't you?" Q asked as he reached up and traced the scar on his cheek with his finger.

Alec's turned somber but then Q pulled him into another kiss. As Alec's kisses moved to his jaw and neck Q whispered to him. "You don't have to be cold again. You have me, and I can assure you I will never leave you for a woman."

Alec smiled again. "Good...James and I finally have what we've always wanted. I may not kill the man in frustration after all."

"He is rather vexing isn't he?" Q said as he pushed against Alec's shoulder, forcing him onto his back. Q looked down at the still handsome older man. "I hope M will find as much entertainment with Bond as you provide me. You troublesome agents are a massive work in progress." Q smiled as he bravely bent to kiss his new love.

Alec pulled away with a smile on his grizzled face. "I think you may just save me from the misery that he left behind. I can't seem to bother hating him any longer. Time really does heal old wounds."

"Are you done being a ghost or do you need me to hide you deeper?" Q asked.

"Hide me as deep as you like. You and I will always manage to track each other down." Alec said with the surprising feeling of joy in his heart after years of bitterness and anger towards the one that got away. "Strange how sometimes when we search for something, we find something else...something..."

"Oft times better, than what we were originally searching for." Q finished for him.

"Are you sure you want a jaded, miserable old man like me?"

"I think you were angry, but over time that goes away, if you let it. And with this mission I think you saw yourself as part of a team again. You helped and you didn't really have too. Bond spent three months wallowing on a beach, we've all sunk low at times and needed help to get up again. I want to be that for you 006."

"006 is dead, and Janus is also. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful, new friendship." Alec murmured into the dark curls of his lover's head as they snuggled in bed, Q now nestled in the crook of his arm his head on Alec's chest.

"Stranger things have happened." Q smiled humming the name Alec over and over again.

"I like the way you say my name. And I thank god that you and Bond were not what I expected you were."

"Why?"

"I think I would have had to shoot him. I will go to visit the two unlikely love birds and thank them though."

"I don't think Bond and M together is really all that strange, now that I look back on it. And I have not known them as long as you."

"No it was there for all to see if you were looking hard enough."

"What was your first clue?" Q inquired.

"That Bond hacked M's private file while he was breaking into her flat, I thought blackmail, but now it all makes perfect sense."

"I wonder if Tanner knows?" Q wondered aloud.

"Poor Tanner." Alec said with a smile.

The two lovers burst out in laughter, imagining the look on Tanner's face when he found out about all of this. The poor man would likely suffer a heart attack.

"I forgot something." Alec said as he jumped out of bed and rifled through his pack. He pulled out a bundle of wrapped paper and tossed it on the bed with Q.

Q looked at it in confusion. "What is this?"

"Open it and find out genius." Alec said sarcastically.

Q untied the plain brown wrap and turned over the gift. It was a very old copy of H.G. Wells-The Time Machine. Q opened the cover to see that it was signed by the author and dated 1895.

"This is...is very...incredibly nice. I can't believe you remembered and cared enough to..."

Alec crawled back into bed with a smile on his face.

Q placed the book gingerly on the bedside table, amazed that Alec had done such a thing for him. Alec had made his way back to Q, who pulled him to his face, for the sole purpose of kissing the man senseless.

The End


End file.
